Unexpected
by Totoka
Summary: It started with a mission. What came after was totally unexpected. ConnerXJaime, Superbeetle, Protective!Scarab, slash.


**El Paso, Texas, 2016**

**April 6, 03:51 MDT**

Jaime rolled over in his bed, his legs intertwined messily in his blanket. He groaned in pain, his head pounding and sweat dripping down his forehead. His stomach twisted in knots and he felt an overwhelming sense of nausea form in his stomach. To say the least, he felt like crap. Every inch of his body ached with fever and he clenched his eyes tight, trying to rid himself of the pain.

He felt lucky, though; lucky because it was still spring break. He wouldn't have to struggle through a day of school. He could just stay home in his comfy bed and relax. Or, so he thought. Only a moment after he had that pleasant thought, his communicator began to glow on his night stand, signifying that Nightwing was trying to contact him.

Groaning, he reached over to grab it from its place by his alarm clock and flipped it open. Nightwing's face appeared seconds later.

"Hey Blue," he greeted. "Sorry to wake you up so early, but we've got a mission and you're the only one we have available at the moment." Nightwing sounded genuinely apologetic, which made Jaime smile despite the pain.

"No problem,_ hermano_," Jaime said easily. "I'll be there soon." Nightwing nodded, and waved his goodbye before disconnecting.

Delicately, Jaime untangled himself from the sheets, the chilling cold hitting him as he removed himself from his bed. Goosebumps trailed up his spine and he shuddered. Shaking it off the best he could, he walked over to his dresser. Quickly, he changed into his usual black tee-shirt, blue jeans, and gray hoodie. He turned to grab his communicator, ready to suit-up.

_Core temperature 103__F. It would be unwise to leave your home at such a vulnerable state. _Khaji Da's voice rang out in Jaime's mind in warning. Recently, the scarab had become more human like, and actually seemed to care for Jaime's wellbeing, which delighted the boy. It was amazing that he was able to break away from being the weapon that he was intended to be and have a mind and a conscience of his own. An added bonus was that Khaji Da didn't try to blow up anything and everything on sight.

Jaime shook his head. "I have to go. My team needs me." The tone of his voice was dismissive and the scarab seemed to realize this.

_Very well. _

Jaime's blue armor began to cover his body as he opened his window, ready to find the nearest Zeta Beam to get him to the mountain.

**Happy Harbor, 2016**

**April 6, 02:06 EDT**

Conner stood in the main living area of the mountain with Nightwing, M'gann and La'gann, waiting for Blue to show up. He and Jaime were going to be on this mission together, and M'gann and La'gann on another. He tapped his foot impenitently, glancing at the clock on the computer screen that was projected before him. If he had to watch the M'gann make eyes at fish-face for one more second, he swore he was going to puke.

Just as he thought this, M'gann leaned in and kissed La'gann on the cheek.

Anger filter through Conner; red hot anger. Clenching his fists, he looked away. Wolf, sitting next to him, nuzzled his leg in an attempt to comfort him.

The minutes passed by before Blue finally arrived.

_Recognized, Blue Beetle. _

Conner wasted no time, stomping to where Blue currently resided. He grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him over to the super cycle, ready to leave. If he were in a normal state of mind, he would've noticed that Jaime's heartbeat was too fast, or that his body temperature was way above normal. But right now he was fueled by anger and the need to get out.

"Superboy! Where do you think you're going? I have to brief Blu-" Nightwing called, but was cut off.

"I'll brief him on the way," he called back, not bothering to look behind him. Soon enough, they had reached the garage where the vehicles were kept and he pushed Blue into the backseat, Wolf jumping in beside him.

Conner hopped into the driver's seat, flying the vehicle out of the garage immediately. The sooner he got away from there the better.

The cold air made Jaime shiver, his head aching worse than it had when had first woken up. It took a lot of will power for him not to groan in pain. Wolf seemed to notice his discomfort and nudged him with his nose as if to ask, '_Are you okay?'_

He smiled, though it was a bit pained, and patted the animal on his head. "I'll be okay. Thanks for caring," he whispered.

"What was that?" Conner asked, having heard Jaime because of their close proximity and his super hearing.

"I, ah, asked if you were going to brief my on the mission?" he lied.

"Oh, yeah," Conner said, caught off guard. Clearing his throat, he began. "There's been a string of disappearances lately. People between the ages of 13-19 have been going missing. Originally, they were thought to have been run-aways. But people with tight-knit ties to their family and friends started disappearing too, which is out of character."

Conner brushed his hand through his hair before continuing. "These disappearances have caught the attention of the League, and they believe that they're a part of some greater scheme."

"What greater scheme?" Jaime asked. He was trying to stay interested, but the knot in his stomach was getting the better of his attention.

"A human trafficking organization," Conner said. His voice was low, dismissive. Jaime tried to respond, but it didn't feel right. He could tell that there was something else on Superboy's mind and he didn't want to go into more detail about the mission, so he kept his mouth shut.

Sighing, he laid his head back against the seat. It still ached horribly and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed and not get up for a few years, but he knew he couldn't. He had to go through with this mission, it was his responsibility.

Jaime shut his eyes for a moment, trying to relax before they got to their mission location. He was startled, however, when he felt a warm head on his lap. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Wolf, paws crossed, head on his lap.

He gave a small smile, petting Wolf's soft coat. _Good idea, buddy_, Jaime thought. If he got a little sleep before they got there, everyone would probably be better off.

With that in mind, he let his eyelids fall. He needed all the energy he could get.

**XxXxX**

After what only felt like a few minutes, Jaime felt someone shake him. The first sensation that coursed through him as he opened his eyes was nausea, and then the pounding ache in his head harming full force. He wanted to cry out, but forced himself not to as his eyes adjusted on the person before him. Superboy.

"How long was I out?" Jaime asked, his voice coming out hoarse. It was a wonder that Conner hadn't put together that the smaller teen was sick. But understandable, considering that he wasn't paying much attention, thoughts of anger and jealously playing in his mind from earlier.

"About two hours," Conner answered quietly. He looked around and then back to Blue. "We have to get going, come on."

Jaime made to get up, an overwhelming sensation of dizziness overtaking him as he did so. He was out of the super cycle, but tripped forward. He would've hit the ground if Superboy hadn't caught him by the waist and hauled him back up.

"Sorry about that, _hermano._ Got up too fast." He forced the best smile that he could; hoping that he could keep is voice steady. Conner seemed to accept his excuse and unlatched his arms from Jaime.

"Be careful, freshman. One mistake like that during the mission and you could blow it," Kon warned. He looked over to the super cycle where Wolf still laid and called for the animal to follow. Once he had jumped out, Wolf remained close to Jaime.

It made Blue smile a bit, really. He'd heard in school that animals could sense when you were sick and they became pretty protective and stuck by you until you were better. That was what Wolf was doing now, and it made him happy to know that the animal cared about him.

Shaking the thought, he went back to focusing on Conner. He began to walk, motioning for Jaime to follow him. Blue would admit, he was still pretty uncomfortable, and his sickness seemed to be getting worse as the minutes passed by.

Soon, they were in front of what seemed to be a warehouse. There were guards stationed at all the entrances, so the conventional method of getting in was a bust. They'd have to go in through the air vents on the roof of the large building.

Conner jumped, landing on the roof with a silent thud, leaving Wolf on the ground for a look out. Jaime looked to the animal, and scratched him behind the ear before looking in either direction. Once he was sure the cost was clear, he flew up to where the Kryptonian currently waited. He was a bit wobbly, but it was okay for the most part.

When he made it to the roof, he was met with the sight of Conner kneeling before an air vent. Before he had the chance to speak, Conner hushed him.

Quietly, Superboy motioned him over to the vent. He walked silently, and kneeled oh his knees beside the brunet, trying to make out what Conner was looking at.

He understood why he was hushed as he gazed at the sight before him. Below them, there were people in stark-white lab coats, walking back and forth, checking charts, and taping away at the keyboards of their computers. At first, Jaime didn't notice what they were working on, but then he caught sight of it.

There were people, in what seemed to be pods, lined up against the wall. Each of them looking fairly young, fitting the age description of the missing teenagers. But the real question was _why _they were here? What purpose did they serve?

The brunet was in deep thought when something-no-_someone _caught his eye. A familiar face, one he knew well for many years-Ty. In one of those pods, leaned against the wall, was his missing friend, looking just the way he had when Jaime had seen him months ago. Only he was asleep, and not in a natural way.

A swell of emotions over took him—joy, relief, _anger_. He was angry at whomever had done this, had thought that they had the right to take not only his friend away from him, and those kids away from their families as well.

Conner looked up, seeing the disgruntled look on Blue's face and quietly cleared his throat, catching Jaime's attention. "You know any of those people?" he asked.

Jaime nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I do."

"Let's get them out of here, then," Conner said confidently. Jaime smiled a little bit at that.

"What's the plan?" he asked, looking to Conner for reassurance.

The larger teen was quiet for a minute, his eyes calculating as he thought up a plan. After some time, he looked back up to Jaime, a glint in his eyes.

"You see those pods?" Conner asked.

"Yeah," Jaime said, unsure of where Superboy was going with this. "What about them?"

"What do you notice about them?"

"Well, there are people in them-"

"Besides that," Conner snapped.

"_Ay dios mio_, no need to get cranky! Well, they're all plugged into a generator," Jaime guessed. That was the only other thing he really noticed: long industrial black cords coming together at one common source.

"Bingo. And what do you think those pods need electricity for?"

The smaller teen was confused at first, but then it dawned on him. "The electricity is powering something in the pods that is keeping those people unconscious."

"Exactly. And do you see those people down there?" Conner asked, pointing his index finger at the men in white coats walking around the warehouse. "They're scientist. Scientist aren't known for their muscles, are they? What do you think would happen if the power went out down there and those kids woke up? They couldn't handle them all."

"That's all well and good, but how are we supposed to get the power to go out?" It came out a bit more irritable than he had meant it to, but his head was pounding full force now. He was starting to see double.

"Look up there," Conner said, motioning to a metal box high atop one of the warehouse walls. "Breaker box."

"How do you know-"

"Heat vision."

"Oh, right." Jaime rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"It's dim enough in there that your costume will blend in, but not light enough that you'd cast a shadow. All you need to do is fly over and switch off the power breaker and the rest is history."

The smaller teen wanted to object since he felt like he was about to collapse where he stood, but he knew he couldn't. Ty was down there. He owed it to him to at least make an effort to get him back. Shakily, he knelt forward and quietly removed the vent cover.

He looked down in the warehouse and waited until he was positive that everyone was too immersed in what they were doing to notice him before he jumped out, wings spread. He made his way to the box, black dots trailing their way across his vision as he did so.

He felt so lightheaded, dizzy too. By the time he reached the box, he had to grip it to prevent him from falling. He was so unbalanced, so out of it.

As he was about to open the gray metal box, shouting broke out. Someone had spotted him.

"Intruder!" one of the scientist screamed to the guards that we stationed just outside the door. Commotion broke out below, the doors slamming open as a dozen armed men ran in.

Jaime couldn't process it though. His head was spinning; the black spots that danced across his vision moments ago were now threatening to overtake it. He couldn't even move.

"Blue, get moving!" Superboy screeched as he jumped into the warehouse from the open vent. Wolf could be heard barking in the background of all the commotion, running to come to their aid.

Trying to clear the haze in his mind, Jaime made to open the box, which proved difficult in his incapacitated state. He managed to get it open, and with a satisfied smirk he went to flip the switch.

Before his fingers could reach the breaker, an overwhelming pain shot up his back, through his entire being.

He felt himself go limp, falling to the floor down below.

* * *

**Umm, hi there. This is my first Young Justice fanfiction, so please tell me what you think! I tried to make everyone as in-character as possible, but if they seem OOC to you, please just let me know and I'll do my best to fix it. Also, if you see any typos/spelling errors/etc feel free to point them out. I don't take offense in the least and I find it very helpful!**

**Also, I'd like to thank Nagi Kokuyo for editing for me. Without her, this story wouldn't be possible. Check out her stories!**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**-Totoka**


End file.
